ing."

"Well!" interrupted Uncle Tom, looking at his watch, "time is passing;
is Kristy to have her story?"

With a smile at his pretended anxiety, Kate began.

CHAPTER XVI

HOW KATE FOUND A BABY

I had been spending the winter, as you know, with my sister in San
Francisco, going to school, and I was expecting to come home in a few
days when the thing happened.

I was awakened by being flung violently out of bed across the room,
where all the light furniture, such as chairs and all loose things,
followed me. I tried to get up, but I could not stand, the house shook
so. It seemed like a ship in a rough sea. In a minute the plastering
began to fall, and I feared it would fall on my head, so by hard work
I dragged myself to the door, which I tried to open. At first it was
jammed so tight together that I could not stir it, but the next shake
of the house flung it wide open, and I crept into the hall, where I
found the whole family hurrying out of their rooms, all in
nightclothes, of course, and scared most to death.

"We must get out of the house before the walls fall," said my
brother-in-law, helping his wife down the stairs, which swayed and
tottered as if they would fall, every minute. We all followed them in
such a hurry that I don't remember how I got to the bottom. I only
remember finding myself on the sidewalk in my nightdress, barefooted
and bareheaded, of course.

We did not think how we looked; the street was full of people, many of
them as little dressed as we, and all hurrying to get out of the
streets, where any minute the houses might fall on them. Our apartment
was in a large apartment house in a street full of tall buildings, and
when I looked up at them I saw them rock and bend towards each other,
so that it seemed as if they would fall together and crush us all.

My first trouble was getting separated from my sister and her husband,
in the confusion of the crowd. I soon found myself alone among
strangers. I tried to turn back to find them, but everybody was going
the other way and I couldn't move a step, so I had to go with the
crowd. I was pushed and hurried on with the rest towards a park at the
end of the street, feeling desolate enough, you may be sure.

Strange things I saw on the way; none of the people more than half
dressed, and many of them just as they got out of bed, but one and
all, except myself, carrying some of their possessions. Some had
armfuls of clothes which they ha